Chapter 4 of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in. The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in. SPIR. What! have you let the false enchanter scape? O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
Chapter 4 of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
From this reading “The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in.”
a sorcerer or magician
From this reading “What! have you let the false enchanter scape?”
inflected form of “mistake” — identify incorrectly
From this reading “O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.”
cause to flee
From this reading “The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.”
erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip
From this reading “What! have you let the false enchanter scape?”
past form of “snatch” — to grasp hastily or eagerly
From this reading “O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.”
a rod used by a magician or water diviner
From this reading “O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.”
obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically
From this reading “The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
From this reading The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in.
confined by bonds
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
terminate
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
a sorcerer or magician
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
not in accordance with the fact or reality or actuality
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form)
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
engage in
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
inflected form of “mistake” — identify incorrectly
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
cause to flee
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
move hurridly
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened)
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
past form of “snatch” — to grasp hastily or eagerly
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SPIR.
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in.
plural of “sword” — a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
a rod used by a magician or water diviner
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
in the company of; together with
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically
From this reading The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of his hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of resistance, but are all driven in.
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand, And bound him fast.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What! have you let the false enchanter scape?
Chapter 4 of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas by John Milton holds 109 sentences, grouped into 22 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 4 holds 109 sentences of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas by John Milton exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 109 sentences, grouped into 22 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 4 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas by John Milton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 480 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #397 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #397, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 40 minutes of reading across 96 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
